The Green Power+® technology has been developed by American Process, Inc. This technology extracts hemicelluloses from a biomass feedstock supply and converts only those hemicelluloses into sugars which are then fermented, such as to cellulosic ethanol. Green Power+ technology is a two-step process to produce sugars from hemicelluloses. An initial steam or hot-water extraction pulls out hemicelluloses, and the remainder of the biomass (cellulose/lignin) is not exposed to any acidic treatment. The remaining solids remain suitable for combustion in a boiler or for pelletization, or other uses. The extracted solution is then hydrolyzed with a mild acid or enzyme treatment to hydrolyze oligomers into fermentable monomers.
The biomass that has been extracted of hemicelluloses is suitable for a variety of downstream applications, including combustion in biomass boilers, combined heat and power, torrefaction, pelleting, pulping, or production of specialty products (e.g. panels). Co-location with a biomass power plant leads to synergies and cost advantages.
What are desired are variations of the Green Power+ technology that obtain sugars from the cellulose portion of the starting biomass feedstock. Low-cost methods are desired to produce biomass sugars for conversion to ethanol, n-butanol, and other fuels and chemicals.